We evaluated the usefulness of PCR assays that target the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region for identifying mycobacteria at the species level. The conservative and species-specific ITS sequences of 33 species of mycobacteria were analyzed in a multialignment analysis. One pair of panmycobacterial primers and seven pairs of mycobacterial species-specific primers were designed. All PCRs we...

Milk is widely consumed in Brazil and can be the vehicle of agent transmission. In this study, was evaluated the occurrence of Mycobacterium bovis and non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) in raw and pasteurized milk consumed in the northwestern region of Paraná, Brazil. Fifty-two milk samples (20 pasteurized and 32 raw) from dairy farms near the municipality of Maringa, Parana State, Brazil were ...

An emerging epizootic of mycobacteriosis currently threatens striped bass Morone saxatilis populations in Chesapeake Bay, USA. Several species of mycobacteria, including Mycobacterium marinum, species resembling M. avium, M. gordonae, M. peregrinum, M. scrofulaceum and M. terrae, and the new species M. shottsii have been isolated from diseased and healthy bass. In this study, we describe the ul...

Antigens in a 4-week-old culture filtrate (CF) of Mycobacterium avium subsp. avium were separated in sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and identified by Western blotting. The culture had minimal lysis of bacilli, giving a CF preparation consisting mainly of secreted proteins. Comparison with a similar CF of Mycobacterium tuberculosis with almost no contamination with int...

Rabbits were sensitized with killed Mycobacterium tuberculosis, M. kansasii, M. avium, M. scrofulaceum, M. fortuitum, and Nocardia asteroides, and their response to homologous and heterologous antigens was assessed in vitro by direct and indirect macrophage migration inhibition tests. The antigens were obtained by disintegration of bacterial mass and by purification of the supernatants by ultra...

Atypical mycobacteria have been described as long as 36 years ago, but it has only been in the last 10 years that the ability of these organisms to cause disease in man has been recognized. The most common pathological processes with which the atypical mycobacteria are associated occur in the lungs and in the cervical lymph nodes. More rare is joint pathology. We describe here a case of knee ar...

Human isolates of Mycobacterium collected in 16 different states of Brazil were submitted to PCR-restriction analysis (PRA) of a 439-bp fragment of the hsp65 gene with HaeIII and BstEII. Fourteen allelic variants not described in clinical isolates so far were observed among 36 (10%) of 356 Brazilian strains, including a new pattern for Mycobacterium scrofulaceum, M. intracellulare, and M. flave...

In Nigeria, one of the highest tuberculosis (TB) burdened nations, sputum smear microscopy is routinely employed for TB diagnosis at Directly Observed Treatment Short-Course (DOTS) Centers. This diagnostic algorithm does not differentiate Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTC) from nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM). Between December 2008 and January 2009, consecutive patients diagnosed with T...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effect of exposure to environmental mycobacteria on results of 2 commercial ELISAs for paratuberculosis in cattle. DESIGN Experimental trial. ANIMALS 19 weaned crossbred beef calves. PROCEDURES Calves were inoculated SC with 1 of 5 mycobacterial isolates (3 calves/isolate) derived from herds with high proportions of false-positive serologic reactions for paratube...

We report the applicability of testing susceptibility to paranitrobenzoic acid (PNB) directly on clinical samples as a rapid screening assay, to detect M. tuberculosis and differentiate it from non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM). One hundred smear positive sputum samples from patients with pulmonary tuberculosis attending the Department of Respiratory Medicine at VP Chest Institute, Delhi, were...